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Woman operating a hand drill, working on a Vengeance dive bomber at Vultee-Nashville. LC-DIG-fsac-1a35371Rosie Pictures: Select Images Relating to American Women Workers During World War II

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The Prints & Photographs Division holds hundreds of Images relating to American women workers in World War II. The list below offers a selection, as well as information on locating additional images (see "Additional Information and Resources").

The selected images were issued by the U.S. government or by commercial sources during World War II, often to encourage women to join the work force or to highlight other aspects of the war effort. Original titles and captions have been retained. Locations for both original and surrogate images are listed, where appropriate.

The list includes digital images, where such images are available. The digital images are presented for educational and research purposes. Except where otherwise noted, the Library of Congress is unaware of any restrictions on the use of the images. However, patrons who plan to publish or otherwise distribute any of the images should be aware that determination regarding the appropriate use of an image ultimately rests with the patron. The Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission for use of the images. For further information, see "Copyright and Other Restrictions ... Sources for Information".

Select the thumbnail image to retrieve and print or download larger jpeg and tiff images through the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (in cases where the rights status of the image is not known, only a thumbnail image will display).

Photographic copies of the images can be ordered through the Library of Congress Duplication Services (202-707-5640).

BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS

Groups of Workers


1. Women welders on the way to their job at the Todd Erie Basin drydock CREATOR: Palmer, Alfred
TITLE: Women welders on the way to their job at the Todd Erie Basin drydock.
SUMMARY: Group of about a dozen women wearing overalls and visors or hard hats walking together beside a building.
DATE: 1943 (?)
NOTE: Made for the Office of War Information.
CALL NUMBER: FSA/OWI - D339157; also Microfilm LOT 969
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USW33-25834-ZC (b&w film negative)
2. Women welders at the Landers, Frary, and Clark plant, New Britain, Conn CREATOR: Parks, Gordon
TITLE: Women welders at the Landers, Frary, and Clark plant, New Britain, Conn.
SUMMARY: Two black women looking towards camera, visors raised.
DATE: 1943 June.
NOTE: Made for the Office of War Information.
CALL NUMBER: FSA/OWI - D339157; also Microfilm LOT 752
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USW3-34282-C (b&w film negative)
3. A Jeep body being hauled into position on the Willys-Overland hardware assembly line ... TITLE: A Jeep body being hauled into position on the Willys-Overland hardware assembly line, where a female battalion will spring into action installing the wiring systems, safety belts, seats and the maze of fittings that go into the U.S. Army's sturdy reconnaissance cars, Toledo, Ohio.
SUMMARY: Six women pulling Jeep body along a track, several women watching behind them.
DATE: 1943
NOTE: Made for the Office of War Information. (Image issued by Willys Overland Motors, Toledo.) Rights status not known.
CALL NUMBER: FSA/OWI - F6255; also Microfilm LOT 700
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZ62-58087 (b&w film copy negative)
4. [No Digital Image] CREATOR: Rosener, Ann
TITLE: Negro women with no previous industrial experience, are reconditioning used spark plugs in a large midwest airplane plant. Despite their lack of technical knowledge, these women have become expert operators of the small testing machines.
SUMMARY: Black woman seated, working with metal object; another woman visible behind her.
DATE: 1942 July
NOTE: Made for the Office of War Information.
CALL NUMBER: LOT 2009
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USE6-5581-D (b&w film negative)
5. Auburn haired, 21-year-old Belva Fletcher (left), handicapped by progressive paralysis, is still able to do a good job for Uncle Sam... CREATOR: Rosener, Ann
TITLE: Auburn haired, 21-year-old Belva Fletcher (left), handicapped by progressive paralysis, is still able to do a good job for Uncle Sam. With 25-year-old Henriette Furley, she's painting Y's for airplane engines at the Maryland League for Crippled Children, where this work is done under subcontract to a Baltimore engineering company. Henriette is badly crippled by arthritis and must stand because of the arthritic condition from which she suffers.
SUMMARY: Woman seated, painting small metal objects, while another woman stands working behind her at the table.
DATE: 1942 Aug.
NOTE: Made for the Office of War Information.
CALL NUMBER: LOT 1974
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USE6-5743-D (b&w film negative)
6. Women aircarft workers finishing transparent bomber noses CREATOR: Palmer, Alfred
TITLE: Building assault boats for U.S. Marine Corps. Boats are fitted with various pockets for carrying emergency rations and other equipment. This pictures shows outer tube of boat completed before bottom has been applied.
SUMMARY: Four women standing inside lifeboat, working on its surface; a man standing on the outside of the boat working on it behind them.
DATE: 1941 Dec.
NOTE: Made for the Office for Emergency Management.
CALL NUMBER: LOT 2057
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USE6-1907-D (b&w film negative)
7. Negro, Mexican and white girls are employed at this plant--Pacific Parachute Company, San Diego, Calif. CREATOR: Lee, Russell
TITLE: Negro, Mexican and white girls are employed at this plant--Pacific Parachute Company, San Diego, Calif.
SUMMARY: Four women bending over table sewing, a Fair Employment Practices Commission sign hanging above them.
DATE: 1942 April
NOTE: Made for the Office of War Information.
CALL NUMBER: FSA/OWI - J61177; also Microfilm LOT 196
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USW3-1186-D (b&w film negative)
8. Women workers employed by a U.S. Department of Agriculture timber salvage sawmill CREATOR: Collier, John
TITLE: Women workers employed by a U.S. Department of Agriculture timber salvage sawmill. Florence Drouin and Mrs. Elizabeth Esty, pond women, use regular logging pikes to bring the logs into place on the slip, Turkey Pond, near Concord, N.H.
SUMMARY: Two women wearing shorts and shirts, standing on supports in the pond, wielding poles to move logs that surround them in the water.
DATE: 1943 June
NOTE: Made for the Office of War Information.
CALL NUMBER: FSA/OWI - D55445; also Microfilm LOT 758
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USW3-34152-C (b&w film negative)
9. Mamie Fairchild and Dorothy Mason working on a bus at the City Transit Company, Beaumont, Tex. CREATOR: Vachon, John
TITLE:Mamie Fairchild and Dorothy Mason working on a bus at the City Transit Company, Beaumont, Tex.
SUMMARY: Women wearing white coveralls working on the front end of a bus.
DATE: 1943 May
NOTE: Made for the Office of War Information.
CALL NUMBER: FSA/OWI - H339157; also Microfilm LOT 714
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USW3-30994-D (b&w film negative)
10. American women fight on home front in U.S. industries: two American girls, employed as war workers by a big American railroad... TITLE: American women fight on home front in U.S. industries: two American girls, employed as war workers by a big American railroad, enjoy a moment of relaxation after cleaning and preparing the locomotive in the background for the day's trip. These girls, like millions of other American women, left homes, schools and pleasanter occupations to work on U.S. railroads, in shipyards, steel plants and war industries, to release more men for U.S. fighting forces with the United Nations.
SUMMARY: Women wearing slacks, sweaters, and caps facing each other, hands in pockets, laughing; train in background.
DATE: [between 1941 and 1945]
NOTE: "Portrait of America" No. 39; "20783-FO" (OWI overseas or domestic source). Rights status not known.
CALL NUMBER: LOT 7844
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZ62-105158 (b&w film negative)
11. Women shipyard workers leaving the Pennsylvania shipyards, Beaumont, Tex. CREATOR: Vachon, John
TITLE: Women shipyard workers leaving the Pennsylvania shipyards, Beaumont, Tex.
SUMMARY: Three women wearing overalls striding forward smiling, arms linked; another woman visible slightly behind them.
DATE: 1943 May
NOTE: Made for the Office of War Information.
CALL NUMBER: FSA/OWI - H339157; also Microfilm LOT 713
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USW3-30979-D (b&w film negative) [also LC-USZ62-105157 (b&w film copy negative), made from another print]
12. Women aircarft workers finishing transparent bomber noses

CREATOR: Palmer, Alfred(?)
TITLE: [Women aircraft workers finishing transparent bomber noses at the Douglas Aircraft Co. plant in Long Beach, Calif.]
DATE: [1942]
NOTE: Made for the Office of War Information? (Data from similar image published in War and Conflict, p. 194.)
CALL NUMBER: SSF - Assembly-Line Methods
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZ62-45642 (b&w film copy negative)

Individual Workers

13. A woman riveter at the Boeing plant in Seattle attaches a sheet of the gleaming outer covering of a fuselage section for a new B-17 F (Flying Fortress) bomber CREATOR: Feininger, Andreas
TITLE: A woman riveter at the Boeing plant in Seattle attaches a sheet of the gleaming outer covering of a fuselage section for a new B-17 F (Flying Fortress) bomber. The Flying Fortress has performed with great credit in the South Pacific, over Germany and elsewhere. It is a four-engine heavy bomber capable of flying at high altitudes.
SUMMARY: Woman with hair tied up in a scarf, riveting gleaming sheet of metal in which her reflection can be seen.
DATE: 1942 Dec.
NOTE: Made for the Office of War Information.
CALL NUMBER: FSA/OWI - J62733; also Microfilm LOT 745
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USE6-8472-D (b&w film negative)
14. War production workers at the Heil Company making gasoline trailer tanks for the US Army Air Corps CREATOR: Hollem, Howard R.
TITLE: War production workers at the Heil Company making gasoline trailer tanks for the US Army Air Corps. Enola O'Connell, age 32, widow and mother of one child, welding part of a trailer. She is the only woman welder in the plant. This is her first job outside her house, Milwaukee, Wis.
SUMMARY: Woman wearing coveralls and goggles, seated, using a welding torch.
DATE: 1943 Feb.
NOTE: Made for the Office of War Information.
CALL NUMBER: FSA/OWI - F339157; also Microfilm LOT 710
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USW3-24908-C (b&w film negative)
15. War production workers at the Vilter Company making M5 and M7 guns for the U.S. Army CREATOR: Hollem, Howard R.
TITLE: War production workers at the Vilter Company making M5 and M7 guns for the U.S. Army. Ex-housewife, age 24, filing small parts. Her husband and brother are in the armed service, Milwaukee, Wis.
SUMMARY: Woman, half length, wearing cap, sweater, and overalls, bending over filing a metal part, similar parts lined up on table beside her.
DATE: 1943 Feb.
NOTE: Made for the Office of War Information.
CALL NUMBER: FSA/OWI - F6242; also Microfilm LOT 710
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USW3-24918-C (b&w film negative)
16. A Polish mother who works on a drill press machine at the Landers, Frary, and Clark plant, New Britain, Conn. CREATOR: Parks, Gordon
TITLE: A Polish mother who works on a drill press machine at the Landers, Frary, and Clark plant, New Britain, Conn.
SUMMARY: Woman, half-length, wearing apron, facing the camera, holding tools in front of her. A poster behind her showing a torn American flag bears the words, "[We] highly resolve that these dead [will] not have died in vain ..."
DATE: 1943 June
NOTE: Made for the Office of War Information.
CALL NUMBER: FSA/OWI - D339157; also Microfilm LOT 752
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USW3-34247-C (b&w film negative)
17. Another skilled worker enlists for the duration CREATOR: Palmer, Alfred
TITLE: Another skilled worker "enlists" for the duration. When the Kentucky watch case factory, for whom she has worked 20 years, converted to war production, this lady was ready to join the procession of war workers.
SUMMARY: White-haired woman, half-length, wearing apron, working at machine.
DATE: 1942 Feb.
NOTE: Made for the Office for Emergency Management.
CALL NUMBER: LOT 2108
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USE6-3557-D (b&w film negative)
18. Looks like a great big wedding ring surrounding this attractive aluminum worker CREATOR: Palmer, Alfred
TITLE: Looks like a great big wedding ring surrounding this attractive aluminum worker. Actually it's a sand casting which is to be used for the armed forces. The young lady is giving it a professional once-over for defects.
SUMMARY: Woman encircled by casting she is holding up with gloved hands.
DATE: 1942 Feb.
NOTE: Made for the Office for Emergency Management.
CALL NUMBER: LOT 2006
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USE6-3692-D (b&w film negative)
19. Woman worker at the International Creasoting Plant CREATOR: Vachon, John
TITLE: Woman worker at the International Creasoting Plant. This work was formerly done by a man. Beaumont, Tex.
SUMMARY: Black woman wearing overalls and heavy gloves wielding a pitchfork over a wooden fence or trench.
DATE: 1943 May
NOTE: Made for the Office of War Information.
CALL NUMBER: FSA/OWI - H339157; also Microfilm LOT 715
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USW3-30919-D (b&w film negative)
20. A laboratory assistant at a southern tin smelter performs delicate analytical operations that determine the amounts of pure metal remaining in slags from the furnaces CREATOR: Hollem, Howard R.
TITLE: A laboratory assistant at a southern tin smelter performs delicate analytical operations that determine the amounts of pure metal remaining in slags from the furnaces. Accurate laboratory control is one of the important reasons by the percentage of metal recovery from the South American ore used at the plant is remarkably high.
SUMMARY: Woman wearing apron standing at a table bearing laboratory equipment, pouring liquid from a flask while smoke drifts up towards her face.
DATE: 1942 July.
NOTE: Made for the Office of War Information.
CALL NUMBER: LOT 1864
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USE6-6751-D (b&w film negative)
21. Black woman working with flag spread out in front of her, piles of folded fabric behind her

CREATOR: Liberman, Howard
TITLE: The tradition of Betsy Ross is being kept alive in this quartermaster corps depot where this young woman worker assists in the creation of American flags for military activities. Philadelphia, Penn.
SUMMARY: Black woman working with flag spread out in front of her, piles of folded fabric behind her.
DATE: 1942 May
NOTE: Made for the Office of War Information.
CALL NUMBER: LOT 1759
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USE6-4298-D (b&w film negative) (also LC-USZ62-95525 film copy negative from photographic print)]
22. Lady who operates block signals for a railroad crossing. Beaumont, Tex. CREATOR: Vachon, John
TITLE: Lady who operates block signals for a railroad crossing. Beaumont, Tex.
SUMMARY: Woman leaning out of upper story of tower, holding a "STOP" sign.
DATE: 1943 May
NOTE: Made for the Office of War Information.
CALL NUMBER: FSA/OWI - H339157; also Microfilm LOT 714
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USW3-31003-D (b&w film negative)
23. [No digital image] CREATOR: Delano, Jack
TITLE: Women are filling more and more railroad jobs--a large proportion of them jobs formerly held by men. Even so, women do not occupy as many railroad jobs as they did during World War I, when 100,000 were employed at the peak.
SUMMARY: Black woman pulling dolley(?) between trains in railroad yard; black man pushing crate in background.
DATE: 1943 April
NOTE: Made for the Office of War Information.
CALL NUMBER: FSA/OWI - F521
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USE6-9934-D (b&w film negative)

COLOR SLIDES

Groups of Workers

24. Women workers install fixtures and assemblies to a tail fuselage section of a B-17 bomber

CREATOR: Palmer, Alfred
TITLE: Women workers install fixtures and assemblies to a tail fuselage section of a B-17 bomber at the Douglas Aircraft Company plant, Long Beach, Calif. Better known as the "Flying Fortress," the B-17F is a later model of the B-17 ...
SUMMARY: Three women (one crouched on right, one crouched on left, and one standing reaching up in middle) working inside circular structure of the fuselage.
DATE: 1942 Oct.
NOTE: Made for the Office of War Information. CALL NUMBER (surrogates): P&P videodisc 1A-35337; also b&w photograph in LOT 12002-39.
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USW361-103 (35 mm color slide)
25. Women wipers of the Chicago and North Western Railroad cleaning one of the giant H class locomotives
[21K JPEG]

CREATOR: Delano, Jack
TITLE: Women wipers of the Chicago and North Western Railroad cleaning one of the giant "H" class locomotives, Clinton, Iowa ... Mrs. Marcella Hart and Mrs. Viola Sievers.
SUMMARY: Two women wearing coveralls climbing up steps of locomotive.
DATE: 1943 April
NOTE: Made for the Office of War Information. CALL NUMBER (surrogates): P&P videodisc 1A-34804; also b&w photograph in LOT 12002-13.
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USW361-639 (35 mm color slide)

Individual Workers

26. Girl putting finishing touches on the bombadier nose section of a B-17F navy bomber

CREATOR: Palmer, Alfred
TITLE: This girl in a glass house is putting finishing touches on the bombadier nose section of a B-17F navy bomber, Long Beach, Calif. She's one of many capable women workers in the Douglas Aircraft Company plant ...
SUMMARY: Woman working with head and shoulders through nose section of bombardier.
DATE: 1942 Oct.
NOTE: Made for the Office of War Information. Image used on OWI poster 52 (see listing #32 below). CALL NUMBER (surrogates): P&P videodisc 1A-35360; also b&w photograph in LOT 12002-39.
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USW361-212 (35 mm color slide)
27. Woman operating a hand drill, working on a Vengeance dive bomber at Vultee-Nashville

CREATOR: Palmer, Alfred
TITLE: Operating a hand drill at Vultee- Nashville, woman is working on a "Vengeance" dive bomber, Tennessee.
SUMMARY: Black woman wearing head scarf, drilling on side of bomber, her face reflected in its surface.
DATE: 1943 Feb.
NOTE: Made for the Office of War Information. CALL NUMBER (surrogates): P&P videodisc 1A-35371; also b&w photograph in LOT 12002-41.
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USW361-295 (35 mm color slide)

28. Woman working on part of the cowling for one of the motors for a B-25 bomber

CREATOR: Palmer, Alfred
TITLE: Part of the cowling for one of the motors for a B-25 bomber is assembled in the engine department of North American [Aviation Inc.]'s Inglewood, Calif., plant.
SUMMARY: Woman framed by circular opening of cowling, hands through opening, working on lower section.
DATE: 1942 Oct.
NOTE: Made for the Office of War Information. CALL NUMBER (surrogates): P&P videodisc 1A-35314; also b&w photograph in LOT 12002-38.
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USW361-453 (35 mm color slide)

29. Woman working on an airplane motor at North American Aviation Inc. plant in Calif.

CREATOR: Palmer, Alfred
TITLE: Woman working on an airplane motor at North American Aviation Inc. plant in Calif.
SUMMARY: Woman wearing checked blouse, hair bound up in scarf, standing between sections of motor, working with wires.
DATE: 1942 June
NOTE: Made for the Office of War Information. CALL NUMBER (surrogates): P&P videodisc 1A-35287; also b&w photograph in LOT 12002-38.
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USW361-142 (35 mm color slide)

30. Woman riveter at work on Consolidated bomber, Consolidated Aircraft Corp., Fort Worth, Texas

CREATOR: Hollem, Howard R.
TITLE: Riveter at work on Consolidated bomber, Consolidated Aircraft Corp., Fort Worth, Texas.
SUMMARY: Close-up of woman crouching, riveting.
DATE: 1942 Oct.
NOTE: Made for the Office of War Information. CALL NUMBER (surrogates): P&P videodisc 1A-34953; also b&w photograph in LOT 12002-19.
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USW361-423 (35 mm color slide)

31. Woman working, framed by oval section of airplane; a man wearing an apron facing her on opposite side of the metal piece they are working on

CREATOR: Hollem, Howard R.
TITLE: Frances Eggleston, aged 23, came from Oklahoma, used to do office work.
SUMMARY: Woman working, framed by oval section of airplane; a man wearing an apron facing her on opposite side of the metal piece they are working on.
DATE: 1942 Oct.
NOTE: Made for the Office of War Information. CALL NUMBER (surrogates): P&P videodisc 1A-34952; also b&w photograph in LOT 12002-19.
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USW361-422 (35 mm color slide)

POSTERS

32. Poster showing woman with scarf on her head

CREATOR: Rapp, George
TITLE: "I've found the job where I fit best!" : find your war job in industry -- agriculture -- business.
SUMMARY: Woman with scarf on her head.
ISSUED BY: Office of War Information. Division of Public Inquiries.
DATE: 1943
NOTE: OWI Poster No. 55.
CALL NUMBER: POS - WWII - J71. G1 1943 ("small"); also Microfilm LOT 11343-12
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZ62-99103 (b&w film copy negative)

33. Reproduction of photo of woman working with her head and shoulders through the bombadier nose section of a B-17F navy bomber

TITLE: The more women at work the sooner we win! Women are needed also as: farm workers, typists, salespeople, waitresses, bus drivers ... : see your local U.S. Employment Service.
SUMMARY: Reproduction of photo of woman working with her head and shoulders through the bombadier nose section of a B-17F navy bomber.
ISSUED BY: Office of War Information. Division of Public Inquiries.
DATE: 1943
NOTE: OWI Poster No. 52 "0-517134." Based on color photograph by Alfred Palmer (see listing #25 above).
CALL NUMBER: POS - WWII - J71. G1 1943; also Microfilm LOT 11343-12
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZC4-5600 (color film copy transparency); LC-USZ62-112283 (b&w film copy negative)

34. Woman wearing overalls and scarf, with man beside her, hand on her shoulder, in front of American flag

CREATOR: Howitt, John Newton
TITLE: I'm proud ... my husband wants me to do my part : see your U.S. Employment Service War Manpower Commission.
SUMMARY: Woman wearing overalls and scarf, with man beside her, hand on her shoulder, in front of American flag.
DATE: 1944
CALL NUMBER: POS - WWII - J7. F34. 1944; also Microfilm LOT 11343-11
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZC4-5603 (color film copy transparency); LC-USZ62-112291 (b&w film copy negative)

35. [No Digital Image] CREATOR: Harris, P. G.
TITLE: Do the job he left behind: apply U.S. Employment Service War Manpower Commission.
SUMMARY: Woman, wearing overalls and scarf, riveting.
DATE: 1944
CALL NUMBER: POS - WWII - J71. F34. 1944 ("small"); also Microfilm LOT 11343-11
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: ------
36. Cartoon showing soldier, sailor, and pilot pointing to a pin-up poster of a woman war worker

CREATOR: Hungerford, Cyrus C.
TITLE: Their real pin-up girl.
SUMMARY: Cartoon showing soldier, sailor, and pilot pointing to a pin-up poster of a woman war worker.
ISSUED BY: Cyrus C. Hungerford, Pittsburgh, Pa.
DATE: copyright 1944
NOTE: Copyright not renewed (verified 1998).
CALL NUMBER: POS - WWII - J49. J71. 1944 ("Hungerford"); also Microfilm LOT 11343-11
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZC4-5601 (color film copy transparency)

37. [No Digital Image] TITLE: "You bet I'm fighting too! What kind of Americans would we be if we let anyone rob us of our Liberty?"
SUMMARY: Woman holding wrench, working on machinery at a table.
ISSUED BY: Kelly-Read & Co., Rochester, N.Y.
DATE: [between 1941 and 1945]
NOTE: "Think American" no. 143. Rights status not known.
CALL NUMBER: POS - WWII - J71. H11 WWII ("small"--"Think American"); also Microfilm LOT 11343-11
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: ------
38. [No Digital Image] CREATOR: Treidler, Adolph
TITLE: She's a WOW : Woman Ordnance Worker.
SUMMARY: Woman standing in front of an ammunition shell, caps of various service units along the right side.
ISSUED BY: U.S. Army. Ordnance Dept.
DATE: 1942
NOTE: "Keep 'Em Shooting" series "0-491926."
CALL NUMBER: POS - WWII - J71. B27. 1942 ("large"); also Microfilm LOT 11343-11
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZC4-4254 (color film copy transparency)
39. Woman working on casing for a bomb(?)

TITLE: Women in the war : we can't win without them.
SUMMARY: Woman working on casing for a bomb(?).
ISSUED BY: War Manpower Commission
DATE: 1942
NOTE: "Keep 'Em Shooting" series "0-477830."
CALL NUMBER: POS - WWII - J71. F34. 1942 ("large"); also Microfilm LOT 11343-12
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZC4-4442 (color film copy transparency); LC-USZ62-111835 (b&w film copy negative)

40. Women aircarft workers finishing transparent bomber noses CREATOR: Packer
TITLE: Count on us! We won't let you down!
SUMMARY: Woman wearing a cap with a "V" on it, standing behind a machine and saluting while soldiers charge in background.
ISSUED BY: Copyright by "Victory-Builders" Division of Bressler Editorial Cartoons, Inc., New York.
DATE: 1942
NOTE: Rights status not known.
CALL NUMBER: POS - WWII - J49. 1942 ("Packer"); also Microfilm LOT 11343-10
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZ62-111836 (b&w film copy negative)
41. Man and woman worker seated, eating sandwiches together

CREATOR: Packer
TITLE: Good work, sister : we never figured you could do a man-size job! America's women have met the test!
SUMMARY: Man and woman worker seated, eating sandwiches together.
ISSUED BY: Copyright by "Victory-Builders" Division of Bressler Editorial Cartoons, Inc., New York.
DATE: copyright 1944 May 5
NOTE: "No. B-162." Copyright not renewed (verified 1998).
CALL NUMBER: POS - WWII - J49. ("Packer")
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZC4-5597 (color film copy transparency)

42. [No Digital Image] TITLE: We soldiers of supply pledge that our fighting men will not want!
SUMMARY: Woman wearing cap with "V" button, woman wearing military(?) cap, and man in overalls standing below "depot" sign.
ISSUED BY: Army Service Forces Depots
DATE: 1943
NOTE: "0-521545."
CALL NUMBER: POS - WWII - J71. J22. 1943 (folded)
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: ------
43. Cartoon showing women building the word WOMEN

CREATOR: Grant, Vernon
TITLE: There's work to be done and a war to be won ... now! See your U.S. Employment Service War Manpower Commission.
SUMMARY: Cartoon showing women building the word "WOMEN."
ISSUED BY: Office of War Information
DATE: 1944
NOTE: "0-5981047."
CALL NUMBER: POS - WWII - J71. F34. 1944
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZC4-5604 (color film copy transparency)

44. [No Digital Image] CREATOR: Packer
TITLE: "'Atta girl : you're doing a swell job!"
SUMMARY: U.S. soldier with bayonet rifle calling to woman wearing overalls and a cap.
ISSUED BY: Copyright by "Victory-Builders" Division of Bressler Editorial Cartoons, Inc., New York
DATE: [1944?]
NOTE: "B-157." Rights status not known.
CALL NUMBER: POS - WWII - J49. 1944 ("Packer")
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: ------
45. [No Digital Image] TITLE: On the job we must all do our best, can't you see; for our boys' very lives rest with you and me. A little extra work each day by every daughter and son, will bring our boys back sooner, with victory safely won.
SUMMARY: Woman sautering.
ISSUED BY: General Motors Corp. Fisher Body Division
DATE: 1943
NOTE: "Idea by Ethel Huested, Fleetwood." Rights status not known.
CALL NUMBER: POS - WWII - J71. F34.
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: ------
46. [No Digital Image] TITLE: Back your man at the front : don't miss a day -- be an Every Day American
SUMMARY: Woman riveting.
ISSUED BY: General Motors Corp. Fisher Body Division
DATE: copyright 1943
NOTE: Rights status not known.
CALL NUMBER: POS - WWII - J71. F34. 1943
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: ------

CARTOON DRAWINGS:

47. And then in my spare time ... CREATOR: Barnes, Bob.
TITLE: "And then in my spare time ..."
SUMMARY: Woman talking to another woman on deck of a ship, while welding with one hand, holding a baby with the other; small children cling to her legs.
ISSUED BY: Office of War Information. Overseas Branch.
DATE: [ca. 1943]
NOTE: "Exhibit no. 261, no. 390."
CALL NUMBER: Lot 8959
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZ62-97636 (b&w film copy negative
48. Mrs. Phipps just convinced me of the need for better child care facilities CREATOR: Severns.
TITLE: "Mrs. Phipps just convinced me of the need for better child care facilities." (Title on piece also in French.)
SUMMARY: Man talking to another man and pointing behind him to a woman worker sitting on top of an airplane, tending to a crying baby in her lap.
ISSUED BY: Office of War Information. Overseas Branch.
DATE: [ca. 1943]
NOTE: "392."
CALL NUMBER: Lot 8959
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZC4-5599
49. Cartoon showing two men wearing overalls watching a woman wearing overalls bending over a tin of muffins(?) she is feeding into a blast furnace

CREATOR: Kramer, C.
TITLE: "Grandma is never absent now that they let her do all her own baking at the plant."
SUMMARY: Two men wearing overalls watching a woman wearing overalls bending over a tin of muffins(?) she is feeding into a blast furnace.
ISSUED BY: Office of War Information. Overseas Branch.
DATE: [ca. 1943]
NOTE: "Exhibit no. 261, no. 391."
CALL NUMBER: Lot 8959
REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZC4-5598 (color film copy transparency)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND RESOURCES:

Nearly three million women worked in defense plants during World War II. By 1944, 16% of working women held jobs in war industries. While many of the women had already been employed outside the home before the war, an increasing number of married and middle class women joined the work force during this period.

Government propaganda and advertisements sought to encourage such work force participation. One of the best known symbols of this propaganda effort was "Rosie the Riveter." Various accounts of the genesis of the "Rosie the Riveter" figure have appeared. Norman Rockwell created what has probably become the most familiar "Rosie" image for the cover of the Saturday Evening Post (May 29, 1943; copyright, Curtis Publishing Company; [retrieve description in Prints & Photographs Online Catalog]). Rockwell's image shows a muscular woman dressed in overalls, face mask and goggles resting on her forehead, seated eating a sandwich, her riveting tool in her lap, her feet resting on a copy of Mein Kampf. Two weeks after the cover illustration was published, stories appeared in the press extolling the achievement of Rose Hicker and her partner, workers at the Eastern Aircraft Company in Tarrytown, New York, who drove a record number of rivets into a wing of a Grumman "Avenger" Bomber. Real and legendary "Rosies" were not only depicted visually and in the press, but were also celebrated in song and even in a Broadway play, entitled "Rosie the Riveter."

Sources that discuss women's World War II work force participation, with associated images include:

Dabakis, Melissa, "Gendered Labor: Norman Rockwell's Rosie the Riveter and the discourses of wartime womanhood," in Barbara Melosh, ed., Gender and American History Since 1890. London: Routledge, 1993. [LC call number: HQ1075.5.U6G45 1993]

Frank, Miriam, Marilyn Ziebarth, and Connie Field. The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter: The Story of Three Million Working Women During World War II. Emeryville, Calif: Clarity Educational Productions, 1982. (Includes several photographs from the FSA-OWI Collection.) [LC call number: HD6068.2.U6 F72 1982 (P&P)]

Gluck, Sherna Berger. Rosie the Riveter Revisited: Women, The War, and Social Change. Boston: Twayne, 1987. [LC call number: HD6073.A452U64 1987]

Honey, Maureen. Creating Rosie the Riveter: Class, Gender, and Propaganda during World War II. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1984. [LC call number: HQ1420.H66 1984]

Rupp, Leila J. Mobilizing Women for War: German and American Propaganda, 1939-1945. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978 [LC call number: D810.W7R8]

"Rosie the Riveter: Real Women Workers in World War II," a Library of Congress Webcast, provides further information on this subject, including an extensive bibliography of print, audiovisual, and web resources.

Additional images relating to women working during World War II, can be retrieved in the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog. (Some images will display only a thumbnail image when searching from outside the Library of Congress, because of rights considerations.) Fruitful search terms include:

Prepared by: Barbara Orbach Natanson, Reference Specialist. Last revised: March 2004
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